Erie man held for trial in bank robbery

Friday

Feb 3, 2017 at 12:17 PM

Also facing trial in homicide, other robberies

By Tim Hahn / tim.hahn@timesnews.com

An Erie man facing trial on charges of killing his wife, robbing a credit union and attempting to rob a bank over nine days in July is now heading to trial on another bank robbery he is accused of committing during that time.

Billy Ray Gordon, 57, was held for trial Friday on charges including robbery, theft and terroristic threats in the July 20 robbery of the Northwest Bank on East Grandview Boulevard following his preliminary hearing before Erie 5th Ward District Judge Paul Bizzarro on Friday morning. He was returned after the hearing to the Erie County Prison, where he is being held in four criminal cases.

Erie police charge that Gordon wore a black ski mask with yellow around the eyes when he entered the Northwest branch, 1328 E. Grandview Blvd., and robbed it of more than $2,000 after stating that he had a gun and ordering everyone to the ground. Witness information and surveillance video led investigators to charge Gordon in the crime, Erie police Detective Craig Stoker wrote in the affidavit of probable cause filed with the criminal complaint.

The robbery occurred two days before Erie police charge that Gordon fatally stabbed his wife, 51-year-old Linda Gordon, and dumped her body in the 1500 block of East 19th Street. A witness told police that Gordon admitted to the killing.

The robbery also occurred six days after city police detectives charged that Gordon and another man, who has not been identified or charged, attempted to rob the Northwest Bank branch at West 26th and Peach streets, then went to the Erie Federal Credit Union branch at 2436 Buffalo Road and robbed it at gunpoint. Eyewitness information and other evidence tied Gordon to those crimes, according to investigators.

Tim Hahn can be reached at 870-1731 or by email. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNhahn.